Thought I'd keep the threads seperate as that could be a bit confusing.

Looking for advice on a new machine. I have been thinking about building a new one for some time now. I used to build PCs for a small computer company when I first got out of high school it's been about 10 years but I'm sure it shouldn't be an issue. The PC wont be used for anything more intensive than gaming.

I am looking for any cheap performance increases, money saving alternatives, product compatability issues etc... Because I have been out of the "loop" for quite some time any insights are greatly appreciated.

A few other questions. Will that particular CPU fan be good enough for some overclocking if I decide I want to OC? Will the on board audio/networking suffice or I should I think about getting seperate cards? Will that particular PSU (550W) be sufficient for my machine?

I was also curious about the performance difference in the 560ti 1 GB vs 2 GB and the performance difference in the 560ti vs the 6950 series since I had heard it mentioned in another thread.

Lastly will these come with everything I need or do I need to buy other chords, thermal grease etc... Thanks in advance.

Edit: Read Talaii's comment on the other active thread and that answers the CPU fan question.

The fan you listed had its own thermal grease in the video for the product. I would avoid buying a regular HDD right now if possible. The extra 100% markup for ZOMGFLOODING is a little rough.

I might got with a 120GB SSD so there is room for your games too. If you are willing to pay the premium for a 7200rpm drive vs a 5400rpm drive, you should be more than willing to pay to put that stuff on an SSD.

Thanks Gibborim, I have an old 100GB external hard drive that I suppose I could use for awhile in anticipation of HDD prices dropping.

If I go with a 120GB SDD with games also stored on it would there be any real reason to use a 7200rpm over a 5400rpm HDD for all of my other data/applications? Like I said nothing intense just everyday stuff.

That would really depend on what kind of applications you are running. Anything that is too monstrous (aside from media) to shove onto the SSD might benefit from a 7200rpm drive, but I don't really know what kinds of work applications even fit that bill.